Fahmi said the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had recently provided the Cabinet with legal perspectives on the issue.
“The Cabinet was informed that there needs to be some amendments to the law,” he told a weekly post-Cabinet press conference today.
“There has been no decision made yet regarding this matter, but it will be revisited during next week’s Cabinet meeting. We will wait for the paper to be presented then.”
When asked which specific laws the government plans to amend, Fahmi said the details have yet to be decided.
“The parallel pathway programme issue involves some overlapping (of powers) between the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).
“Doctors obtain their qualifications through MMC, while others go through MQA,” he said, adding that this will also be on the agenda for discussion.
On Monday, higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said amendments to the Medical Act will be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting as the government seeks to resolve issues related to the parallel pathway programme.
Zambry said the amendments had been mooted by the health ministry, following a discussion with the AGC.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad previously said the ministry would stand by its decision to amend the Medical Act to bridge the gap between the parallel pathway programme and the local medical degree programme.
The MMC is currently involved in a controversy with specialists from the parallel pathway programme and graduates in medical genetics over the recognition of their qualifications for inclusion in the National Specialist Register.
In response to the ongoing dispute, four cardiothoracic surgeons who qualified from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, alongside six graduates from Universiti Sains Malaysia, have filed a lawsuit against the MMC.
Separately, Fahmi said the full report on the Lumut helicopter crash will be released tomorrow.
“The (defence) minister (Khaled Nordin) has informed us (the Cabinet) on the status of the full report of the Lumut helicopter crash, which has been completed, and it will be published tomorrow,” he said.